Lloyd and Lyons, Inc.

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FC: Regents of The University of California at Davis v. Bakke | 1978 John Lloyd & Kyle Lyons

1: 1. This Is The Table Of Contents. We Are On Page 1 Now. 2 - 7. These Pages List The Background Information On The Life Of Allan Bakke 8-11. These Pages List The Series Of Events That Bring Bakke Into Court And Then Eventually Into The Supreme Court 12-13. These Pages Describe An Unusual Situation Where The Amicus Curiae Briefs Flooded Into The Supreme Court 14-18. These Pages Describe The Actual Time In The Supreme Court 19-23. These Pages Describe The Aftermath of the Decision 24-25. Citations For Pictures and Information

2: Allan Bakke: Who is he? | - Grew up attending all white schools in Florida. - Attended Coral Gables High School - Attended University of Minnesota

3: “Success in golf depends less on strength of body than upon strength of mind and character.” ~ Arnold Palmer | Bakke graduated from University of Minnesota with a degree in engineering acquiring almost straight A's along the way. He then went on to serve in the Marine Corps for 4 years, including service in Vietnam. He left the Marines in 1967 as a captain.

4: Upon his return home, Bakke took a job as an aerospace engineer with NASA; however, Bakke's dream was to become a doctor. | Qualified?

5: With a 3.51 undergraduate GPA, a score in the top 3% of the MCAT, a previous job with NASA, and the title of Marine Corps Captain on his chest, Bakke, age 31, was well qualified to enter med school.

6: Bakke applied to 12 different Medical schools, one of them being UC Davis. He was denied from every single one. Most cited his age as their reason. Bakke noticed, however, that some less qualified individuals from minority groups were admitted into UC Davis's medical school.

7: “Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work.” ~ Jack Nicklaus

8: Bakke, in his enraged confusion, wrote a letter to UC Davis to explain his reasoning and his personal opinion regarding their admissions process. He wrote the following: "Most are selected according to this standard, but I am convinced that a significant fraction of every current medical class is judged by a separate criterion. I am referring to quotas, open or covert, for racial minorities."

9: Bakke applied to UC Davis again, and was again denied. Lawyers were shortly involved, taking up Bakke's case and filing a complaint with the local courts.

10: Bakke's lawyer, Reynold Colvin, went to work in the lower court cases. He was easily able to prove that UC Davis had a quota system and he challenged the officials at UC Davis to prove that his client wouldn't have been admitted if it wasn't for the quota system. They could not muster any proof. Colvin brought the case under the 14th Amendment under the Equal Protection Clause. Judge F. Leslie Manker from the Yolo County Courthouse ruled that the UC Davis task force was unconstitutional; however, Bakke still wasn't in law school. Both sides appealed.

11: Within four months, the case was in front of the Supreme Court

12: Before the case even arrived at the Supreme Court an abnormally large amount of amicus curiae briefs were filed: fifty-eight to be exact. One of them was the official brief from the federal government which Wade McCree, the Solicitor General, and Drew Days, the Assistant Attorney General, wrote for the President. This case triggered nationwide engagement as another issue over race relations was presented to the court. | Amicus Curiae

14: Archibald Cox, the lawyer for UC Davis, argued that all applicants were qualified and the school had a right to consider a person's race in order to attempt to remedy years of racial discrimination. He also argued that each university has a right to an autonomy that should not be taken away. | Regents of California

15: vs. | Bakke | Bakke's lawyer, Reynold H. Colvin, argued the opposing side. He proved that the Task Force team at UC Davis only admitted the racial minorities and not the financially disadvantaged. He argued that the practice was unconstitutional based on its violation of the Equal Protection Clause and the fact that it violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

16: The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bakke on the basis that he was treated unlawfully under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act; however, they also ruled that the task force program at UC Davis did not violate the 14th Amendment. The court ruled 5-4 on both of these decisions. | A Split Decision

17: Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell held the swing vote in both of the rulings so he was the one who wrote the plurality opinion.

18: Bakke won his case at the Supreme Court level, and the court ruled that the university was forced to admit Bakke into their medical school.

19: Aftermath

20: All race based college quotas were eliminated upon the final verdict of this case. Race is allowed to be considered as a factor in the admissions process, but it is not allowed to be a determining criteria.

21: The ruling of the Bakke case made affirmative action permissible, but it didn't require it at any level. A year later however, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of affirmative action in United Steelworkers v. Weber, establishing the fine line between public quotas and private use of affirmative action. | Affirmative Action

22: Bakke went on to UC Davis's medical school and was met with mixed emotions. In 1980, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of another affirmative action program. The program in question was the Public Works Employment Act of 1977. (Fullilove v. Klutznik)

23: In 1989, Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. established that all state and local government programs regarding affirmative action would be subject to a "strict scrutiny." In 1990, Metro Broadcasting, Inc v. F.C.C. established that a federal agency could use a racially-based affirmative action program if it followed the best interests of the government.